Railway car door operating mechanism



March 19, 1968 E- J. DE RIDDER 3,373,700

RAILWAY GAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 29, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheetl INVENTOR. ERNST J. DeRIDDER BY $4M W42 HIS ATTORNEYS M r h 19, 1968 E.J. DE RIDDER 3,373,700

RAILWAY CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 29, 1964 v 4Sheets-Sheet '2 37 3 l! I I 6 a @i g 27 z; 2/ Z7 F G. 3 ERN fl z bER hy5AM 13 HIS ATTORNEYS March 19, 1968 E. J. DE RIDDER RAILWAY CAR DOOROPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 29, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 11 INVENTORERNST J. DeRIDbER HIS ATTORNEYS March 19, 1968 E. J. DE RIDDER 3,373,7Q0

RAILWAY CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 29, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet4 FIG.?

INVENTOR.

ERNST J. DeRIDDER BY 3/4 X HIS ATTORNEYS i ate res Filed Apr. 29, 1964,Ser. No. 363,452 Claims. (Ci. 105-240) This invention relates to animproved door actuating mechanism for railroad cars and the like, aswell as to improved parts for such door actuating mechanism or the like.

It is well known from the copending patent application, Ser. No.272,688, filed Apr. '12, 1963, that door actuating mechanism forrailroad cars and the like can be readily provided wherein each railroadcar has a plurality of bays of doors that can be individually opened atthe bottom of the railroad car so that the product means in thatparticular bay can fall by gravity out through the open door means ofits respective bay, each bay having a plurality of pairs of cooperatingdoors that operate in unison.

It is also well known from the copending patent application, Ser. No.272,687, filed Apr. 12, 1963, now abandoned, that fluid motor means orthe like can be provided for selectively actuating such door actuatingmechanism.

This invention provides improved door actuating mechanism and partstherefor having many improved features over the door actuating mechanismdescribed and claimed in the aforementioned patent applications.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improveddoor actuating mechanism or the like having one or more of the novelfeatures of this invention as set forth above or hereinafter shown ordescribed.

Another object of this invention is to provide improved parts for such adoor actuating mechanism or the like.

Other objects, uses and advantages of this invention are apparent from areading of this description which proceeds with reference to theaccompanying drawings forming a part thereof and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, partially broken away side view of a railroadcar or the like incorporating the features of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary broken away side view of the parts of thisinvention for operating a cooperating pair of door means for therailroad car of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 3-3 ofFIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken substantially online 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 and illustrates the door means intheir open positions.

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 and illustrates anotherembodiment of this invention.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken substantially online 7-7 of FIGURE 6.

While the various features of this invention are hereinafter describedand illustrated as being particularly adaptable for forming the dooractuating parts for a railroad car or the like, it is to be understoodthat the various features of this invention can be utilized singly or inany combination thereof to provide actuating mechanism for otherstructures as desired.

Therefore, this invention is not to be limited to only the embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, because the drawings are merely utilized toillustrate one of the wide variety of uses of this invention.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, a conventional railroad car for carrying coaland the like is generally indicated by the reference numeral 10 and hasa plurality of doors 11 pivotally mounted thereto in a mannerhereinafter described and cooperating together to open or close thebottom wall of the railroad car 10.

In particular, a plurality of pairs of cooperating doors 11 can beprovided for each bay of the railroad car It so that when it is desiredto empty a particular bay of the railroad car 10, the actuatingmechanism of this invention is operated in a manner hereinafterdescribed to simultaneously open all of the doors of a particular bay sothat the product means in that particular bay can fall by gravity outthrough the open door means 11.

As illustrated in FIGURES l-3, the railroad car 10 has opposed side wallmeans 12 respectively provided with an outwardly directed sill means 13.

A plurality of castings 14 of this invention are secured to the opposedside wall means 12 and sills 13 of the railroad car 10 in alignedrelation by rivets, welding, or other desired fastening means in theposition illustrated in the drawings and pivotally carry the door means11 that extend between the opposed side wall means 12 at the bottom ofthe railroad car 10.

In particular, it can be seen in FIGURES 2 and 4 that each casting 14carries bushing means 15'which respectively receive adjacent pivot pins16 of a cooperating pair of door means 11.

While the castings 14 illustrated in FIGURE 1 have the outer surfacesthereof substantially enclosed, it is to be understood that the samecould have recesses or openings provided therein to lighten the weightthereof, the castings 14 being formed of any suitable material, such asaluminum-containing material or the like.

As illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3, each casting 14 carries a pair ofspaced parallel shafts 17 journaled in openings 18 and 19 formed inopposed walls 20 and 21 thereof.

A segmental gear wheel 22 is rotatably mounted on each shaft 17 and hasgear teeth 23 meshing with the gear teeth 23 on the adjacent gear wheel22 in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 2 for a purpose hereinafterdescribed.

Each gear wheel 22 is pivotally attached by a pivot pin 24 to one end 25of an angled link 26, the other end 27 ofthe respective link 26 beingpivotally interconnected to the lower end of a respective door 11 by apivot pin 28 carried by a bracket 29 suitably fastened to the lowerportion of the respective door 11.

One of the gear Wheels 22 in the cooperating pair thereof is adapted tobe pivotally attached to an actuating rod 29 by a pivot pin 39 in themanner illustrated in FIG- URES 2 and 3, the actuating rod 29 thus beingattached to one of the cooperating pair of gear wheels 22 of each pairof door means 11 for a particular bay of the railroad car 10 whereby allof the door means 11 of a particular bay can be operated in unison.

The actuating rod 29 has a plurality of adjustable turnbuckles 31provided throughout the length thereof to permit adjustment of the rod29 between adjacent pairs of doors 11 for a particular bay of therailroad car 10.

Movement of the actuating rod 23 from the door closing positionillustrated in FIGURE 2 to the door opening position illustrated inFIGURE 5 can be accomplished by any suitable apparatus or method. Forexample, movement of the rod 29 can be controlled by the fluid operatedmeans described in the aforementioned copending patent applications.

Each door 11 has an inwardly directed portion 32 which cooperates withthe portion 32 of its adjacent door to close the opening in the bottomWall means of the railroad car It) in the manner illustrated in FIGURE2, one of the portions 32 carrying a longitudinally disposed bar 33 in arecess 34 thereof which will be received in the recess 34 of the otherdoor 11 in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 2 to completely seal the gapbetween the doors 11 when the same are disposed in the closed positionsthereof.

It can be seen that each door 11 is pivotally mounted underneath asubstantially A-shaped frame member 35 extending between the opposedside walls 12 of the car in the manner illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2whereby any coal dust or the like which would tend to collect at thepivot points of the doors 11 can fall out from beneath the A framemembers to prevent adverse functioning of the pivot rods 16.

Further, it can be seen in FIGURES 1 and 3 that a cover plate 36 extendscompletely along the outside of the castings 14 to cover the same andprotect the gear wheels 22 and the like from any dust which would tendto impede the operation thereof. For example, it can be seen that thelinks 26 project outwardly through slots 37, FIGURE 3, in the castings14 and are eifectively sealed by rubber sealing means 38.

The operation of the door actuating mechanism of this invention will nowbe described.

When the actuating rod 29 is moved in any suitable manner from theposition illustrated in FIGURE 5 to the position illustrated in FIGURE2, it can be seen that the right hand gear wheel 22 rotates in acounterclockwise direction about its shaft 17 and through the meshingteeth 23 thereof causes the left hand gear wheel 22 to simultaneouslyrotate in a clockwise direction about its respective shaft 17 wherebythe doors 11 are pivoted to their closed positions by means of the links26.

When the doors have been closed in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 2,it can be seen that when a load is placed in the railroad car It) to bedisposed against the closed doors 11, the force of the weight imposeddownwardly on the doors 11 that tends to open the same causes the links26 to tend to rotate the gear wheels 22 in their respective door closingdirections whereby the elbows 39 of each link 26 is drawn against itsrespective shaft 17 to prevent the gear wheels 22 from being furtherrotated in their door closing directions. This feature is accomplishedby the fact that a line drawn from the center of a pivot pin 28 on aparticular door 11 and passing through the center of the respectiveshaft 17 will pass outboard of the respective pivot pin 24 so that theforce component tending to open the doors 11 by means of the weightmeans thereon, causes the links 26 to tend to rotate the respective gearwheel 22 in its door closing direction.

Thus, it can be seen that the door actuating mechanism of this inventionpositively locks the doors 11 in their closed positions when a load isplaced thereon, the

links 26 acting as stop means to prevent the doors from being furthermoved in their closing direction.

When it is desired to open the doors 11 of a particular bay of arailroad car 10, the actuating rod 29 is moved from the positionillustrated in FIGURE 2 to the position illustrated in FIGURE 5 wherebythe right hand gear wheel 22 is rotated in a clockwise direction and thecooperating left hand gear wheel 22 is rotated in a counterclockwisedirection to cause the doors 11 to move from their closed positionsillustrated in FIGURE 2 to their opened positions illustrated in FIGURE5 because of the link means 26 whereby a particular bay of the railroadcar 10 can be emptied.

While the rod 29 can be actuated in any suitable manner, the rod 29 isso constructed and arranged that the same is placed under tension whenbeing moved from its door closing position to its door opening position,whereby the rod 29 is only placed under compression when the doors arebeing moved to their closed position as there is no weight being imposedon the doors When the same are being moved to their closed positions.

Therefore, it can be seen that the door actuating mechanism illustratedin FIGURES 1-5 provides means Wherein the door actuating mechanism canbe completely encased and protected from coal dust and the like whilesfill effectively being adapted to open and close cooperating door meansof the railroad car 10 or the like, the door actuating mechanism beingso constructed and arranged that when a load is placed on the doors 11,such force does not tend to open the doors 11 because the force tends tomore fully close the doors 11 in the manner previously described.

As illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7, another embodiment of this inventionfor opening and closing doors for a railroad car 10 or the likecomprises casting means 44) or the like respectively secured to the sillmeans 13 and side wall means 12 of the railroad car 10 by riveting,welding or the like.

Each casting 40 carries a pair of parallel spaced shafts 41 respectivelyhaving segmental gear wheels 42 rotatably mounted thereon and having theteeth 43 thereof disposed in meshing relation.

The right hand gear wheel 42 is pivotally connected to an actuating rod44 by a pivot pin 45, the actuating rod 44 being actuated in the samemanner as the actuating rod 29 previously described.

The cooperating door means 46 respectively have their upper endspivotally mounted to the castings 40 by pivot pins 47 while the lowerends are pivotally mounted to the ends 48 of links 49 by pivot pins 50.The pivot pins 50 are respectively carried by bushings 51 havingeccentric portions 52 disposed in aperture means 53 of the links 49whereby rotation of the bushings 51 relative to the links 49 will adjustthe position of the door means 46 relative to the links 49 for a purposehereinafter described.

The other ends 54 of the links 49 are pivotally interconnected to thegear wheels 42 by pivot pins 55.

One of the door means of a cooperating pair 46 thereof has a recess 56which will receive a tang 57 of the other door means 46 when therespective pair of door means 46 are disposed in the closed position asillustrated in full lines in FIGURE 6 whereby the doors will effectivelyhold the product means thereabove when the door means 46 are disposed inthe closed position thereof.

The side wall 12 of the railroad car 10 as illustrated in FIGURES 6 and7 is cut away in the region of the reference numerals 58 to permit thepivot pins 50 of the doors 46 to move to their closed position asillustrated in full lines in FIGURE 6.

The operation of the door actuating mechanism illus trated in FIGURES 6and 7 will now be described.

When the actuating rod 44 is disposed in the position illustrated infull lines in FIGURE 6, the door means 46 are disposed in their closedpositions whereby any weight placed on top of the doors 46 and tendingto open the same, such as caused by a payload in the railroad car 10,will produce a resulting force that tends to cause the gear wheels 42 torotate in their door closing directions because the line of force fromthe center of the pivot pins 51) through the centers of the respectiveshafts 41 are disposed outboard of the pivot pins in the mannerpreviously described for the embodiment illustrated in FIG- URE 2. Thus,the elbows 59 of the links 49 will engage against the shafts 41 toprevent further rotation of the gear wheels 42 in their closingdirections.

When the elbows 59 of the links 49 are disposed against the shafts 41,it may be found that the doors 46 are not fully closed wherebyadjustment of the eccentric bushings 51 thereof will permit the doors tobe adjusted to their fully closed position even though the elbows 59 ofthe links 49 are disposed against the shafts 41.

When it is desired to open the doors 46, the actuating rod 44 is movedto the right to cause the right hand gear wheel 42 to rotate in aclockwise direction and cause the left hand gear wheel 42 to rotate in acounterclockwise direction whereby the links 49 pivot the doors 46 totheir fully open positions as illustrated by dotted lines in FIG- URE 6.Thus, subsequent movement of the actuating rod 44 from its open positionto its closed position causes the right hand gear wheel 42 to rotate ina counterclockwise direction and the left hand gear wheel 42 to rotatein a clockwise direction whereby the doors 46 are moved to their closedposition by the links 49.

Accordingly, it can be seen that this invention provides improved dooractuating mechanisms having many novel features. It can also be seenthat this invention provides improved parts for such a door actuatingmechanism or the like.

While the form of the invention now preferred has been disclosed asrequired by the statutes, other forms may be used, all coming within thescope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railroad car or the like, the combination com prising:

(a) a railroad car having a bottom and opposed sides,

(b) a pair of doors pivotally mounted for oscillation longitudinally ofsaid car in order to close an opening in said bottom,

(9) a pair of parallel shafts respectively mounted on each of theopposed sides of said car and extending laterally thereof with the axesof pairs of shafts in alignment and parallel to each other,

((1) a pair of intermeshing gear segments, each segment mounted on ashaft of a pair of said shafts and rotatable therewith,

(e) a plurality of link means each pivotally connected at one end to oneof said gear segments and at the other end to a respective door,

(f) and reversible power means connected to at least one of said gearsegments and movable longitudinally of said car whereby upon actuationof said reversible power means said pairs of intermeshing gear segmentsare rotated thereby imparting pivotal motion to said pair of doorsthrough said link means whereby said doors may be opened and closed,

(g) said link means engaging an associated shaft in an overcenterposition relative to the axis of said shaft when said doors are closedto provide a stop for said doors.

2. In a railroad car or the like as defined in claim 1, wherein saiddoors have portions thereof disposed in overlapping relation when saiddoors are in closed position.

3. In a railroad car or the like as defined in claim 1, wherein saidlink means are received in their respective doors by eccentric bushingmeans whereby an adjustment may be made in the closed position of saiddoor means.

4. In a railroad car or the like as defined in claim 1, wherein each ofsaid link means is angled so as to cradle its respective shaft andprovide its said overcenter position.

5. In a railroad car or the like as defined in claim 1, wherein a loadimposed on said doors in a closed position thereof causes said gearsegments to tend to rotate in their respective door closing directionsdue to said overcenter position of said link means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 544,020 7/1895 Barney 105-290758,392 4/ 1904 Streib 105-290 X 1,248,666 12/1917 Keithley 105-299 X1,402,836 1/ 1922 Campbell 105-299 X 3,166,024 1/1965 Hamilton 105-2403,183,852 4/1965 Fritz 105-304 X FOREIGN PATENTS 17,702 7/ 1910 GreatBritain. 26,843 9/ 1911 Great Britain.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Examiner. H.BELTRAN, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A RAILROAD CAR OR THE LIKE, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING: (A) ARAILROAD CAR HAVING A BOTTOM AND OPPOSED SIDES, (B) A PAIR OF DOORSPIVOTALLY MOUNTED FOR OSCILLATION LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID CAR IN ORDER TOCLOSE AN OPENING IN SAID BOTTOM, (C) A PAIR OF PARALLEL SHAFTSRESPECTIVELY MOUNTED ON EACH OF THE OPPOSED SIDES OF SAID CAR ANDEXTENDING LATERALLY THEREOF WITH THE AXES OF PAIRS OF SHAFTS INALIGNMENT AND PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER, (D) A PAIR OF INTERMESHING GEARSEGMENTS, EACH SEGMENT MOUNTED ON A SHAFT OF A PAIR OF SAID SHAFTS ANDROTATABLE THEREWITH, (E) A PLURALITY OF LINK MEANS EACH PIVOTALLYCONNECTED AT ONE END TO ONE OF SAID GEAR SEGMENTS AND AT THE OTHER ENDTO A RESPECTIVE DOOR, (F) AND REVERSIBLE POWER MEANS CONNECTED TO ATLEAST ONE OF SAID GEAR SEGMENTS AND MOVABLE LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID CARWHEREBY UPON ACTUATION OF SAID REVERSIBLE POWER MEANS SAID PAIRS OFINTERMESHING GEAR SEGMENTS ARE ROTATED THEREBY IMPARTING PIVOTAL MOTIONTO SAID PAIR OF DOORS THROUGH SAID LINK MEANS WHEREBY SAID DOORS MAY BEOPENED AND CLOSED, (G) SAID LINK MEANS ENGAGING AN ASSOCIATED SHAFT INAN OVERCENTER POSITION RELATIVE TO THE AXIS OF SAID SHAFT WHEN SAIDDOORS ARE CLOSED TO PROVIDE A STOP FOR SAID DOORS.